U.S. MARKET AVERAGES

Stocks jumped sharply higher at opening on a positive reaction to the morning slew of earnings reports and upbeat economic news with the 3 main equity indices each up about 0.6%.

The strongest support was provided by Dow Jones industrials Caterpillar Inc which posted 54% profit jump in the fourth quarter on sales growth, exceeding analyst estimates. The positive results from the machinery maker brought some relief to the market which suffered the deeply disappointing quarterly news from General Motors. The automaker posted fourth-quarter and full-year loss, far below expectations.

Wall Street's concerns about the state of the economy eased after the Commerce Department reported an all-time high in factory orders for big-ticket items. Orders for durable goods rose 1.3% in December following an upwardly revised increase of 5.4% in November, below economists’ expectations of an increase by 1.5%.

A separate report from the Labor Dept. showed that initial jobless claims in the week ended January 21 rose to 283,000 from the previous week''s revised figure of 272,000. Economists had expected a more significant increase to about 305,000.

On one of the busiest days of the earnings season a number of major companies released quarterly results. Dow components AT&T reported better-than-expected profit, Lockheed and Danaher Corp also beat estimates with strong quarterly results. Honeywell posted Q4 profit rise in line with estimates, while Verizon reported net income decline in Q4 but above expectations. Drug maker Eli Lilly swung to profit in Q4, missing estimates. First Data posted 14% net income drop.

Insurance stocks advanced in the opening hours, led by UnumProvident (UNM: chart) with an advance of 5% on an upgrade from Bear Stearns. The transportation group, helped by gains in the trucking sector, also moved to the upside. The Dow Jones Transportation Average rose more than 1.1%.

Energy stocks were weak in the early going, especially the oil service sector, falling by about 1.1%. The gold sector also moved to the downside, giving back some of Wednesday's advance. Networking stocks showed weakness as well.

In the first hour of trading, the Dow rose 64.35, or 0.6%.The Standard & Poor's 500 index added 7.73, or 0.61%, and the Nasdaq composite index gained 14.74, or 0.65%.

Bonds continued to fall for a second session, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note rising to 4.50% from 4.48% late Wednesday.

MOVERS AND SHAKERS

Estee Lauder Cos (EL: chart) posted Q4 earnings drop of 40.9% to $81.7 million or 38 cents a share, citing charges. Net earnings from continuing operations grew 7.7% to $150.4 million or 70 cents a share. Revenue climbed 2.7% at $1.78 billion. Analysts expected earnings of 56 cents a share on revenue of $1.8 billion. The company projected revenue in 2006 to grow around 3% and earnings to be in the range of $1.61 to $1.68 a share. The stock gained 2.7%.

Hartmarx Corp. (HMX: chart) reported Q4 net earnings of $7.3 million or 20 cents a share, up from the prior year's profit of $5.8 million, or 16 cents, exceeding estimates of 16 cents a share. Revenue rose to $156.8 million from $152.2 million. Operating earnings increased to $13.9 million from $11 million. Hartmarx projected 2006 earnings-per-share growth in a range of 12% to 20%. The company’s shares rose 7%.

Juniper Networks (JNPR: chart) posted 60% profit growth in Q4. The company earned $105.5 million, or 17 cents a share, compared to $66 million, or 11 cents a share, during the year-ago period. Excluding charges and one-time items, Juniper earned $119.6 million, or 20 cents a share, meeting estimates. Revenue rose 34% to $575.5 million, but below the $579 million expected by analysts. The company released a weaker-than-expected first-quarter forecast. The stock dropped 20%.

ECONOMIC NEWS

The Department of Labor released its report on initial jobless claims in the week ended January 21 on Thursday, showing that jobless claims rose much less than economists had been expecting.

The report showed that jobless claims rose to 283,000 from the previous week's revised figure of 272,000. Economists had expected a more significant increase to about 305,000 from the 271,000 originally reported for the previous week.

The Labor Dept. also said that the less volatile 4-week moving average fell to 288,750 from the previous week's revised average of 299,500. This marks the fourth consecutive decline for the 4-week moving average, which has fallen to its lowest level since July of 2000.

The report also showed that continuing claims rose to 2.581 million in the week ended January 14 from the preceding week's revised level of 2.528 million.

Thursday morning, the Department of Commerce released its report on new orders for durable goods in the month of December. The report showed that orders for durable goods rose 1.3 percent in December following an upwardly revised increase of 5.4 percent in November. Economists had been expecting orders to increase by 1.5 percent compared to the 4.4 percent increase originally reported for November.